


Camisado

by Nylocke



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Rivals to Lovers, Sharing a Bed, klance, rating is for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 03:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10069871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nylocke/pseuds/Nylocke
Summary: “Just keep to your side of the bed, and I’ll keep to mine. Goodnight.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HopelessFujoshi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopelessFujoshi/gifts).



> Oh, how it's been so long.
> 
> I haven't posted anything in a while, so sorry that I'm a bit rusty. Anyway, this idea sprung from a group chat, and I agreed to write this for my friend. I've been focusing more on poetry and songwriting recently, so it's been a while since I've written anything in story format, fanfiction or otherwise. Still, a promise is a promise, so here we are. 
> 
> This hasn't been beta read, so I apologize for any errors. Thanks for reading!

Lance knew when Allura gathered everyone in the main control room that something was wrong. He knew when she told them that the defense systems needed to recharge and had to draw extra power from the rest of the castle--specifically, the heating system--that things would be bad. 

He never imagined that “bad” would be Keith sharing his blanket in the night as the group slept in the only room with a livable temperature. It was freezing, and they had all huddled together by the central control. Lance had almost fallen asleep when another blanket was thrown over him, and Keith slipped underneath both covers.

“Keith, what are you--”

“Shut up,” Keith hissed. “It’s warmer with two blankets.”

“Yeah, but--”

“ _Shh_. Goodnight.”

“Uh, goodnight,” Lance mumbled, unsure of what to do with his arms. He laid as still as possible, doing his best not to lessen the little space between them.

********

Lance awoke the next morning with a pleasant weight on his chest. He shifted slightly, blinking sleep from his eyes. He froze when he remembered what that pleasant weight was.

Keith.

He glanced down, heart racing as he found himself suddenly very awake. Keith was fast asleep, curled around Lance like a cat; one leg hooked between Lance’s and an arm thrown over Lance’s torso. Lance glanced around, nervous that someone had woken up and seen them like this. When he found that everyone’s blanket lump seemed relatively undisturbed, he let himself breathe again. He remembered last night, Keith sliding under the covers next to him to keep warm. He nudged the sleeping paladin with his knee.

“Psst. Keith.”

Keith remained fast asleep, his breathing slow and even. Lance could feel the heat of a blush on his cheeks. Cursing himself, he nudged Keith harder.

“ _Keith!_ Wake up! C’mon, man, please?”

Keith’s eyes fluttered, and he shifted slightly. He mumbled something under his breath.

“Keith, the heat’s back on.”

Keith’s eyes opened, and he looked up. His brow furrowed slightly as his eyes focused. 

“...Lance?”

Lance prayed that Keith couldn’t feel his quickening pulse. “Y-yeah. The, uh, the heat’s back on. You can get up now.”

Keith shot up, throwing the blankets off of them. “Right. Sorry.”

“‘S alright,” Lance replied, sitting up. “Thanks for, uh, sharing your blanket last night.”

“Oh, yeah. No problem.” 

The others had begun to stir, and Lance watched as Keith stood.

“Everyone alright?” Shiro asked as he sat up.

“Yes, it seems the systems are functioning properly again,” Allura replied, emerging from under her blankets. “Most of the rooms should be fully heated by now.”

“Good, I’m starving,” Hunk yawned. “You think the kitchen is operational yet? I’m going to get some breakfast.”

Lance’s eyes stayed on Keith as everyone started their days as they started every other day, as if nothing had happened. And, Lance thought to himself, perhaps nothing really did.

********

Lance awoke to the sound of his door sliding open in the night. He groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes. “Hunk, I told you, I don’t have any frozen burritos in here, alright? Just, go back to sleep.”

When he received no response, he lifted his arm from his face, squinting in the darkness of his room. “Hunk?”

He felt the bed dip as the blankets were tugged upwards. “What are you--”

Lance flinched when Keith’s voice replied. “Heat’s still broken in my room. I’m staying here for the night.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Lance sputtered. “What makes you think you can just waltz into my room and--”

“Just keep to your side of the bed, and I’ll keep to mine. Goodnight.”

“Oh, yeah, that worked well last night,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. “Or maybe you forgot waking up all over me less than 24 hours ago?”

Lance could feel Keith flinch, and he swallowed hard, guilt immediately rising in his chest. 

“Look,” Keith snapped, “I don’t like it either, but I don’t really have a choice here. Besides, it was cold last night. It’s warm here. No need to huddle for warmth. Now, just shut up, and go back to sleep.”

Lance decided against arguing more, heart still pounding in his chest. He decidedly ignored it when Keith rolled onto his side, and he could feel the paladin’s breath on his neck.

********

The next morning, Lance woke on his side, pleasantly warm. He breathed deeply, pressing himself into the warmth gathered in his arms. His heart stopped when he remembered what that warmth was.

Keith.

Again. 

Shit.

He opened his eyes, glancing down at the sleeping paladin in his arms, and wondered how the hell they had ended up like this. It was his arms wrapped around Keith this time, not the other way around like it had been the night before. How the _hell_ had they ended up like this? 

Lance took a deep breath, letting Keith’s slow breathing calm him. No one would see them this time; they could stay like this, if they wanted to. Only problem was Lance couldn’t figure out if he actually wanted to.

He thought back to Earth, having to share a bed with his brothers until he moved out. He remembered how cold he was the first night in the garrison, alone in his bunk. He had forgotten how nice it was to have someone else so close, so familiar like this. 

Sure. It didn’t matter who it was. It didn’t matter that it was Keith. 

It didn’t.

Keith murmured in his sleep, bringing Lance’s attention back to the man in his arms.

“Keith, buddy, you alright?”

More muttering escaped Keith’s lips, bringing a smile to Lance’s. “Sure, buddy. Whatever you say.”

********

“Keith, can you pass the salt?” Hunk asked.

Keith stared at his plate, pushing his breakfast around with his fork.

“Keith?”

“Hm?”

“The salt.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

Hunk chuckled. “You alright?” he asked as he sprinkled salt on his meal.

“I’m fine. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Keith mumbled. Lance glanced at him nervously from across the table, but Keith didn’t look up from his meal. Lance dropped his gaze back to his own food, trying not to think about how good Keith was at lying. 

“Me neither,” Hunk said with a wistful smile. “I kept having this dream that we went back to Earth for a day, and we went to the beach and showed Coran and Allura the garrison--which doesn’t really make sense since there isn’t a beach anywhere near the garrison, but it was still cool--and we got lunch from my favorite pizza shop down the street from my--”

Keith stood abruptly. “I’ll be on the training deck if anyone needs me.”

A tense silence fell over the table. “Oh. Alright,” Hunk replied.

“Don’t you think you should finish your breakfast before training, Keith?” Shiro suggested. “You shouldn’t train on an empty stomach.

“I’m fine,” Keith insisted, his tone leaving no room for argument as the doors closed behind him. 

Pidge coughed, breaking the silence. “Well, Lance, I built an adapter for that video game console last night; we can plug it into the main--”

“I’ll be on the training deck, too,” Lance interrupted, pushing his food away. He headed through the doors and down the hallway, leaving an entirely perplexed team behind him in the dining hall. 

Lance shoved his hands in his pockets, slowing down as he made his way up towards the training deck. It was stupid, following Keith like this, and he wasn’t entirely sure why he was doing it in the first place. He felt like they needed to talk after the morning they had, but what would he say? That he didn’t mind Keith spending the night in his room? That he _did_ mind Keith spending the night in his room? If he was being honest, he didn’t mind at all, but he hated not minding. Keith was his rival. Keith was always showing him up. If he let Keith know that he didn’t mind him spending the night--let alone _enjoyed_ it--Keith would never let him hear the end of it. 

Unless Keith didn’t mind either.

Lance sighed, heart heavy in his chest. Of course Keith would mind. It’s not like Keith wanted to spend the night in Lance’s room. The heat was out, and he needed a place to sleep. Lance’s first thought would be to bunk with another paladin if it were him whose heat went out. 

But, then again, Keith chose to go to Lance’s room over all the others. 

Then again, what were his options? Lance’s room was right next to Keith’s; of course he would go to the closest room. Besides, Hunk took up too much space in his bunk to share, and Pidge and Allura were both girls; that’s completely out of the question. Coran was old and could come down with another case of the slipperies at any time, probably. But Keith had known Shiro for years, right? 

Why didn’t he chose to bunk with Shiro?

Lance shook his head, trying to clear his mind as he approached the training simulator. _Just be cool, Lance. Just talk to him. Just…_

He stepped through the door and leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest as he watched Keith’s form move back and forth across the training deck, locked in battle with the bot. He was a skilled fighter, no doubt, and Lance found familiarity in his movements. He hadn’t ever taken the time to watch Keith in battle--he was usually locked in his own fight--but he still recognized Keith’s patterns and stances from battling alongside him. Lance found himself wishing he was as skilled as Keith, though he recognized that Keith must have been training for years to be able to fight like that. Lance hadn’t had any training in physical combat; Earth’s fighter pilots aren’t exactly trained in hand-to-hand combat. And Keith’s form was flawless, making it beautiful to watch…

“Are you just going to stand there all day, or what?” Keith huffed, eyes still on the defeated bot. Lance hadn’t even noticed the simulation had ended.

“Well, no, I was just--”

“Do you need something?” Keith asked impatiently, lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe his brow.

“Er, not really, I was just--”

“Then why are you here?”

Lance swallowed hard, nerves sending his heart into his throat. He took a deep breath to steady himself, standing up straight as he shifted his weight onto both feet.

“I was just thinking we should talk.”

Keith turned, his eyes meeting with Lance’s. Lance felt his breath hitch in his chest, unsure of the intensity in Keith’s eyes. To his surprise, Keith dropped his gaze.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Keith bit out between breaths, reaching for a bottle of water. 

Lance nodded, eyes cast to his feet. “Right. No, of course not. I was just…”

“You were just what?” Keith asked, an edge to his tone. Lance glanced up to find Keith facing him, eyes intense and locked on his face. 

“...I don’t know. Confused, I guess.” 

They stood, frozen, staring at each other for a moment with the weight of an eternity. Finally, Keith stepped forward, crossing the distance between them in a few determined strides. Lance barely had time to think before Keith was on him, shoving him hard against the wall with his arm across Lance’s chest. Lance blinked, utterly unsure of what to do or say or think or _feel_. He held his breath, eyes locked with Keith’s, unsure of what he saw in them. 

“...Keith?”

“Look,” Keith growled, voice low enough to send a shiver up Lance’s spine. “It’s not a big deal, alright? The heat was still out in my room. I needed a place to sleep.”

“Why didn’t you go to Shiro’s room?”

Keith tensed, fist clenching, and Lance felt his breath catch in his chest, but he held Keith’s gaze, honesty in his eyes.

Lance felt some of the tension leave Keith’s muscles, relieving some of the pressure on his chest. Keith cursed under his breath as he let his head fall onto Lance’s shoulder. Lance held his breath, not wanting to move an inch. Keith was pressed up against him, filled with anger only a moment ago, but now…

“I don’t know.”

Lance paused for a moment. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I _mean_ I don’t know.” Keith answered, the edge gone from his voice. “I… I didn’t think to go to Shiro’s room.”

Lance remained silent for a moment, thinking about what to say, waiting for Keith to say more. He was so scared to say something stupid, something that would put the harshness back in Keith’s tone, but he had to say _something_. 

“...I don’t mind. Like, if you’re worried about it. If you need to stay in my room. I don’t mind. You can stay there if you want,” Lance stammered, unsure of himself. 

Keith took a step back, eyes downcast. Lance stopped himself from stepping forward, closing the space Keith had put between them. He was walking a thin line here, worried about overstepping his boundaries with Keith. His rival. His teammate. His friend. 

Depending on what you qualify as friends.

“Thanks,” Keith said.

He turned, he walked away, and he was gone, leaving Lance alone in the training deck wondering if he should have caught Keith’s arm on his way out the door, taken the chance to say what he wanted to.

********

Lance stared at his dark ceiling, mind racing as he tried to force himself to sleep. He needed to rest, needed to be sharp in case they had to fight the next day. With the Galra empire constantly on their tails, they had to be ready to go at any moment. They needed a well-rested blue paladin, not an exhausted blue paladin that couldn’t sleep because he was too busy thinking about the red paladin. 

Finally, deciding the heat was probably back on in Keith’s room, he slid out from under the covers, deciding to take a walk to relax his mind. Maybe get something to eat in the kitchen. Anything to calm himself. 

He walked down the dark hallway, past Keith’s room. The air outside his door didn’t feel any colder, and Lance nodded, disappointment settling in his stomach. He continued on, feet carrying him through the castle until he found himself in the central control room. He flipped the switch on the control panel, the room lighting up with the star map. His eyes traced the galaxies around him as he sat down, letting his mind wander. 

He lost track of time, gazing at the simulated stars until the sound of the door opening behind him brought his attention back to reality. He turned to find Keith stepping through the doorway, the lights of the map dancing on his pale face. 

“Keith? What are you doing?”

Keith said nothing in response, just sat down next to Lance, who pretended not to notice when their knees brushed. 

“You should be sleeping.”

“So should you,” Keith replied, eyes turned up to the stars. “What are you doing?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Lance admitted, looking down at his feet. Keith hummed in response but said nothing. They sat in silence, gazing at the stars, until Lance broke the silence. “Is the heat back on in your room?”

Keith bit his lip, silent for a moment before replying: “Yeah.”

“Oh,” Lance said, nodding as the familiar feeling of disappointment returned to his stomach. “That’s good.”

“I guess.”

“You guess?” Lance looked up at Keith, who was staring at his feet, brow furrowed slightly. He took a deep breath, carefully choosing which of the words on his tongue he would let slip. “Keith, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Something,” Lance insisted. Keith turned away slightly, hair falling in front of his face like a curtain. “Keith,” Lance continued, not caring about the fragile boundaries he was pushing, “Look, I don’t know what’s going on in your mind. I don’t know how you’re feeling. I don’t know how _I’m_ feeling. But that doesn’t mean it’s _nothing_ , okay? So let’s just, I don’t know, talk about it, or--”

“ _Lance_ ,” Keith growled, an edge in his tone that made Lance’s voice catch in his own throat, “Stop talking. Stop.”

Lance swallowed the lump in his throat, face burning. He had pushed too hard. 

“Sorry.”

Keith reached over slowly, letting his hand brush Lance’s knee. Lance looked up, heart pounding in his chest.

“Remember that time I told you to shut up and trust me?” Keith said. Lance nodded, tongue tied in his mouth. “I’m gonna ask you to do that again. Tell me when to stop.” 

Keith brought their lips together, softly, uncertain. Lance froze, mind whirring as he tried to process what the hell was happening.

_Kiss him back, you idiot._

Lance returned the pressure on his lips, thoughts still buzzing like static in his head. His mind went blank as he parted his lips and felt Keith’s tongue slip between them. He felt Keith’s hands reach up, cupping his jaw, bringing them closer, and he returned the motion, hands tracing their way up Keith’s pale arms until they rested on his chest. All his self-consciousness slipped away, lost beneath the touch of Keith’s skin on his own.

As they came together beneath the stars, Lance never even thought about telling Keith to stop.

********

“Hey, Pidge?” Lance called from the doorway. “Have you seen my slippers? I can’t find them.”

“No, I haven’t seen them,” Pidge replied, not looking up from her computer. “Where did you have them last?”

“I left them next to my bed, like usual,” Lance replied. 

“Try retracing your steps or something, I don’t know,” Pidge said, shrugging.

“Thanks for your help, Pidge,” he groaned, stepping back out into the hallway. As he walked, he tried to think back to when he had them last: probably this morning. But if Keith had taken them off last night--Lance tried and failed not to blush as he thought of it--did he put them on this morning? Maybe Keith had thrown them somewhere in his room last night. Or the night before. Or the night before that. Or… _well, it has been several nights in a row_ , Lance thought with a smirk. He looked up when he passed the control room, finding Shiro and Coran inside. 

“Hey, have either of you guys seen my slippers?” Lance asked, entering the room.

“Nope, haven’t seen them!” Coran replied. “Have you tried retracing your steps?”

“That’s what I’m doing now,” Lance told him. “Shiro, have you seen them?”

“No, sorry,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “Maybe ask Allura; she could ask the mice to search the castle for them.”

Lance smiled. “Good idea, Shiro! Thanks!” 

Lance left the control room with a spring in his step, hopeful to find his lost slippers. “Allura?” he called down the halls. “Allura, I need your help with something.” He heard footsteps approaching around a corner, and he turned to look. “Allura, I--oh, hey Keith.”

“Hey,” Keith said, a soft smile crossing his lips. “Allura said she was heading up to the pool. What are you doing?”

“Looking for my slippers,” Lance replied. He dropped his voice before continuing. “You wouldn’t, er, remember what you did with them last night? Did you throw them somewhere when you…?”

Keith didn’t seem to be aware of the slight blush that crossed his pale cheeks. “No, you didn’t have them on last night. You’re sure they’re not in your room?”

“Nah, I couldn’t find them,” Lance sighed. “Thanks for your help, though.”

“No problem,” Keith smiled, placing a quick kiss on Lance’s cheek before heading off down the hallway. 

Lance couldn’t help but grin as he continued on his way, passing the kitchen as he walked. He peered inside, curious to see if Hunk had started making dinner yet. 

“Hunk?”

Hunk’s head emerged from behind the stove. “Yeah?”

“Have you seen my slippers around?”

Hunk hummed to himself, standing up and slipping off his oven mitts. “Have you asked Keith?”

“Yeah I--wait, why would Keith know?” Lance asked, anxiety finding its way into his gut. Did Hunk find out about them?

“No reason,” Hunk said innocently, increasing Lance’s suspicions. “And he didn’t know?”

“No…” Lance replied.

Hunk walked around to meet Lance in the doorway, lowering his voice. “Lance, tell me the truth. Are you and Keith, like… _doing_ stuff?”

“What?! No, no, no, no,” Lance laughed nervously. “Why would you think that? Did you hit your head on that last mission? That’s crazy! Keith and I are, like, _rivals_ remember? We would never--”

“It’s just interesting,” Hunk interrupted. “Because if Keith had been sleeping in his own bed, he would have found your slippers under his pillow two nights ago. That’s all.”

Lance stared, mouth hanging open as Hunk chuckled. “Oh, and by the way,” he added, patting Lance’s shoulder, “You might want to explain to Allura that the purple spots on Keith’s neck aren’t because he’s turning Galra.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for reading! If you want to contact me, my tumblr is ocarinaenthusiast.tumblr.com. Cheers!


End file.
